Cloud computing may well be the future as companies use it to store their data. However, let’s not forget about service orientated architecture (SOA), which can easily work alongside the cloud.
Whereas the cloud encompasses implementation and application delivery options, SOA is more concerned with the foundation underneath that makes it all possible, which helps to make the pair perfect bedfellows. It should be noted that without SOA, it is very difficult to get to the cloud, but to get a clearer idea of how the pair work together, let’s first define them separately.
Put simply, cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers connected to the internet in order to store data, rather than taking advantage of a local server or a personal computer. SOA, on the other hand, are loosely coupled services with well-defined interfaces that improve business functionality and can be shared or reused in a network.
How do they work together?
The cloud serves as a good way to deploy services in an SOA environment, as they support each other, but are not based on the same principles.
SOA can help to provide the backbone to allow both user front-end applications and enterprise back-end servers that are easily able to access cloud services. Those companies that already have SOA in place, will find a move to the cloud is much easier, faster and more secure.
Author and chief executive officer at Arcitura Education Thomas Erl told Forbes: “Companies who have gone ahead and adopted SOA have gone through a number of project lifecycles, and are delivering services and using that experience and knowledge in cloud competing technology.”
The cloud is now very much service-orientated, with its applications reaching out to consume web services in ways that wouldn’t have even been imaginable just a few short years ago. The firms that previously shunned SOA are now taking advantage of it because of the rise of cloud computing.
Can they exist separately?
While a few years ago – before cloud computing came along – SOA was all the rage, since the implementation of cloud services it has been a less talked about.
The marketing steam ran out of SOA some time ago, and instead the IT industry is seemingly focused on big data and cloud computing. However, the cloud doesn’t necessarily solve integration problems for companies. The cloud won’t stop silo computing as an industry standard and, while vendors may very well sell public or private cloud solutions, organisations still need a strategy that will allow data and logic to be integrated, which is where the true value of SOA is found.
It could be argued that it is even more important now with so many companies rushing to get to the cloud, so they don’t fall behind other rivals in the adoption of the service.
The potential of cloud computing is high, but only if placed in the right hands, which is why Canopy is focused on bringing the benefits of next generation IT and cloud delivery to organisations.
